Measuring which nation has the most baseball fans

Cricket used to be America's pastime

Before baseball, American football, basketball, or hockey ever organized in the US, there was one sport which could be found up and down the East Coast: cricket. The second-most popular sport in the world, cricket is mostly ignored by Americans, despite its prevalence in early American history. Learn more about the forgotten role cricket played in the US with this article.

Fourteen ways to make baseball cool again

Baseball, while commonly known as America's pastime, gets a bit of a bad rap for being long, slow, and boring. Here are fourteen fun ideas to make the sport more interesting to combat dwindling attendance.

Ranking every baseball stadium outfield by how hard it is to play

Park factors have long adjusted for how a ballpark helps or hurts hitters and pitchers, but rarely fielders. MLB's Statcast looked at five years of Outs Above Average data to shed light on the gap. It found that stadiums with roofs or in cities that regularly have sunny skies dominate the easy end, while those battered by wind or rain, like San Francisco's, are the hardest to play.

The top 100 players in baseball history

More than 20,000 players have played in Major League Baseball since the 1870s, many passing in and out of the memory of even die-hard fans. While necessarily subjective, these rankings based on votes from baseball writers ranks those whose greatness left a lasting impression. From Barry Larkin (No. 100) to Babe Ruth (No. 1), explore the top 100 baseball players over more than a century.

The states in America that drink the most beer

Americans, in 2020, drank on average almost twenty-six gallons of beer per adult aged twenty-one or over, over the course of the pandemic.

The MLB consist of 30 teams

The league is home to the National and American leagues, which include 780 active players. The MLB season is the longest in professional sports, with 162 games played during the regular season, typically from April through September, ending with the World Series championship in October.

A guide to the best baseball books

If you're really all-in on the game, then you might want to dig into one of these classics, like Michael Lewis' "Moneyball," about the analytics that changed the sport, or Bob Uecker's autobiography, "Catcher in the Wry."

Fenway Park is the oldest professional baseball stadium in use

The legendary park was built in 1912 and is considered hallowed ground for baseball fans, along with iconic venues like Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and Wrigley Field in Chicago.

A look into Major League Soccer supporter clubs

Supporter clubs are legion in Europe and South America, where soccer is an obsession. The sport is not nearly as popular in the United States, but that does seem to be changing, due in no small part to the slow success of Major League Soccer and its dedicated fan bases. This brief documentary examines a handful of American supporter clubs who sing songs, cheer wildly, and commit themselves and their families to their hometown clubs.

Where you fall on the sports misery index

Only one team can win it all each season, which means the majority of fans are disappointed. This bot mines the data on how your teams have performed in recent years and measures your misery index (the higher, the more miserable).

Why the US women's soccer team has been so dominant for three decades

The US women's soccer team has more Women's World Cups than any other team, and have ranked as the number one team in the world for over a decade. Perennial favorites, the organization is one of the most dominant in modern sports history. Author...

See America's loneliness and disconnection—charted

This series of graphs visually depicts various aspects of American society's connection to others, including the percentage of Americans who feel they have friends or family they can count on (90%), share of people who feel close to at least one other person (86%), and more.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

The best national parks in America for wildlife spotting

Park-goers hoping to catch a glimpse of local wildlife can turn to this breakdown of animal-related data from the National Park Service. Birdwatchers should visit Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, which has the highest density of bird types at 194 species per 100km². Interested in marine life? Head to Biscayne National Park in Florida to find nearly 700 species of colorful fish in crystal-clear waters.

Mapping the world's 25 largest stock exchanges

Totaling a market capitalization of $106T (as of 2023), this map identifies the major stock exchanges worldwide on a map, ranking them by total market value. Nearly half of that value is located in the Americas.

Many religions have core majorities in certain countries

Though most religions have members across the world, they also have major concentrated populations in specific nations. For example, 95% of Hindus live in India, while 85% of the world's Jews live in Israel and the US.

Facts and figures on the largest credit unions

As of early 2024, credit unions had $2.31T in assets under management and were growing exponentially. Some of the biggest players limit access to military personnel, residents of specific states, and those with active religious affiliations. If you want to bank with some of the top names in the US, this list will help you check to see if you qualify.

1 in 5 Americans get local news from the radio

According to a 2023 Pew Research Center report, radio remains the second most popular medium for local news, remaining a vital source for local concerns. Audiences for national public radio, however, have declined, with listenership for NPR-affiliated stations down 10%.

Guess US city populations via bracket-style game

The US Census Bureau's data visualization team created a game—laid out like a March Madness basketball bracket—where you try to decide which metro area of two has the greater population. Test your knowledge of relative city populations and see...

How popular are America's billionaires?

The US has more billionaires than any other country, and they are a mix of media moguls, entrepreneurs, and entertainers. This list ranks the 10 richest Americans by their popularity. The oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, ranks highest in favorability at 52%, while Google cofounder Sergey Brin ranks lowest—likely because 72% of respondents didn't recognize his name.

Aaron Judge asks Yankees fans about Aaron Judge

In this 2017 clip from the Tonight Show, Aaron Judge asks Yankees fans what they think about Aaron Judge — and some of them don’t realize they’re talking to the actual Aaron Judge.

Super Bowl LIX in 2025 made TV history with over 127 million viewers

Nielsen reported Super Bowl LIX drew an estimated 127.7 million viewers, the largest audience in Super Bowl history, with peak viewership near 138 million. This resource also includes viewership figures for every Super Bowl dating back to Super Bowl I.

There are currently over 6,500 active coasters in the world

See a database including every country from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe to see stats about their coaster count, and compare it to their populations and square footage.

A comprehensive taxonomy of American tacos

Tacos may be a Mexican food, but they're wildly popular in America and in a number of different styles. This lengthy guide from Serious Eats was compiled after visiting more than 1,000 taco shops. It breaks down the differences between the many variations on the form (including breakfast, barbacoa, and Deli Mex) you'll encounter in different regions of the country. We don't recommend reading on an empty stomach!

Superfans of K-pop group BTS gamed the Billboard chart

In 2021, the boy band scored a number one hit with “Butter,” its second English-language track. As Stereogum writer Tom Breihan points out, though, it rose to the top of the charts without actually being the most popular song in the country. Other songs were considerably more popular on streaming platforms, but BTS’ hyperdevoted fanbase realized that purchasing digital downloads weighed more heavily in Billboard’s methodology. Recognizing an opportunity, BTS dropped the price of a download to 69 cents, securing their place on the top of the charts.

How Taiwan residents view China and the US

There is widespread support in Taiwan for increased economic and political ties with the US, compared to China. This deep dive of data from the Pew Research Center breaks down how various segments of Taiwan's population perceive the US and China individually and among other Asia-Pacific countries.

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

A pickleball's loud 'pop' sound can reach 120 decibels, which is equivalent to a hammer hitting a nail

Despite being favored by 87% of Americans, Congress does not have term limits.

Explore an interactive map of battles from the American Revolution, along with detailed summaries of each engagement

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

Scientists have struggled to pin down Ebola's natural reservoir species for decades, but the available evidence suggests that it's very likely fruit and insect-eating bats found in Africa.

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

Neutron stars, the remains of some massive stars after they explode in a supernova, are the densest directly observable objects in the universe.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

Bone marrow (soft tissue found inside certain bones) generates roughly 500 billion new blood cells each day

Lesser-known phobias include turophobia, or the fear of cheese, and nomophobia, the fear of being without your cell phone.

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.